Where Cody Campbell sees Tech fitting in new era of college football
Cody Campbell, billionaire oil tycoon and chairman of the Texas Tech Board of Regents, spearheaded the charge to make Tech one of the most talked about programs in college football.
The Red Raiders made a killing in the portal and have now extended their efforts even harder in the high school space. Revenue sharing and rule changes to the NIL realm helped Tech land blue-chippers Donovan Webb, Ace Rowden and the big fish Felix Ojo a week ago.
“I think that we knew when we hired Joey McGuire that he’s one of the best recruiters in the country, especially when it comes to Texas high schools,” Campbell told me in an exclusive for RedRaiderSports. “I think we’re seeing a lot of the fruits of what his strengths are. His ability to develop relationships and connect with these kids is unparalleled.
On top of that, we have maximized the resources that are available to him financially to compete in this new revenue world. I think we’re in a great spot to have a good class this year and years to come. I’m excited about what the future is going to bring with respect to recruiting.”
Campbell is behind-the-scenes in revenue sharing
The head coach McGuire has admitted he’s hands-off with money in the roster, choosing to leave his emotions out of the equation. Like McGuire, Campbell chooses to leave the salary cap and revenue share to James Blanchard and others. Though his role is more in the background, he is still involved.
“I’ve helped them, you know, whenever I can, try to think through strategy and how we’re gonna allocate the money,” Campbell said. “I am pretty plugged in. But those guys are good. Blanchard has an NFL background and has dealt with salary caps before. We brought in consultants and analytics folks and everybody else to help us make sure that we’re allocating our resources most efficiently.
The best way to put it and making the best investments we can. We’re entering a different era. It’s money ball. We’re all gonna have the same amount to spend, so whoever spends the best is gonna win. Thinking through that strategy has been a big part of the process. I’ve been involved with it, helped them whenever.”
The short-term expectations
Campbell’s vision includes both short-term and long-term success for the Tech football program. The high school recruiting speaks of optimism for the future. The portal successes gives Campbell hope that these Red Raiders will soon be as competitive as they have ever been.
“I expect us to be very competitive. On paper, we’re probably the most talented team in the league,” Campbell remarked. “I haven’t heard what Joey said yesterday but I assume he told everybody we’re gonna win the national championship. We all have to recognize there’s a lot of things that are outside of our control. We’ve done everything we can control.
Everything we can control, but injuries, bad calls, you know maybe the ball is shaped funny and bounces in weird ways.
Things happen. What I want to see is just that we’re competitive throughout the season. I want to see that we’re positioned to compete for the Big 12 championship and for a spot in the playoffs. You get to that place and I’m happy. Because at that point, a lot of different things can happen. I think that we are positioned to be competitive in that way. That’s my expectation is that we position ourselves to compete for a national championship.”
